


KHATUM!

by LordTraco



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-22
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-03-19 01:38:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3591498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordTraco/pseuds/LordTraco
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Page 285 could have changed things for the worse very quickly.<br/>A little re-imagining of what could have happened. Be prepared, it's sad. </p><p>Also, I may add the other character's reactions in the future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

KHATUM!  
Lalli heard the muffled explosion from the ship with mild interest. The others seemed excited about the ship being there, so this was probably good. Maybe this was why they were walking out onto this old rusty dock place. Who knows? Best to just follow them and protect-  
THUKKK!  
That wasn’t right. No, that was not the sound of metal hitting metal. That was metal hitting flesh.  
Lalli was the first to move. As some old lady shouted at them from the boat and the others were still registering what was wrong, Lalli grabbed Emil just before he hit the ground.  
Blood.  
There was a pool of blood.  
It took Lalli a second to register a second harpoon had hit far enough away to not be aiming at them. But this was unimportant. Emil was laying in his arms, his face gouged through by the harpoon. There was no life in his face, and his body limply hung in his arms.  
Lalli’s mind shut down. He closed his eyes, willing this stranger back, willing this all to change. By the moon, he had been graced with this friend for barely a few days, a friend whose name he’d never spoken. This friend who had clung to him in the face of a giant, this friend who was in fear for his life, who protected a complete stranger out of instinct…  
This friend whose dead weight was now pulled close. Lalli hoped and wished aloud for all to hear how he wanted his friend back. How he wished for just one more unnecessary hug from the messy Swede. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
They were walking somewhere, again without Tuuri adequately explaining the situation. Lalli followed behind at his own pace, wondering why all this seemed so familiar.  
He felt what seemed to be dried tears on his face, but he never cried. Not for 10 years, so why would it feel like that now? Lalli tried to ignore this strange sensation of dread. If he couldn’t communicate it to the others, it wasn’t worth figuring out himself.  
He took a seat on the edge of the circular building thing as the others eagerly awaited something from the water. His heart had a knot in it, but he kept his eyes trained on the water.  
KHATUM!  
Lalli felt his hand shoot up and a spell quietly flew from his mouth involuntarily. It was a wish to change things. The others didn’t hear, but he saw Emil duck.  
TSSAK!  
The feeling of dread was replaced with foreign relief. He wondered inside what would have happened if he hadn’t done that spell.  
No, it wasn’t something he should think about. Some lady was yelling a different language and there was a few boats attached to the harpoons they shot. Maybe that was their food as they hadn’t yet had their usual breakfast.  
Lalli felt his face and wondered at the small streak of tears streaming down his right cheek. He wiped it away, deciding this was something to forget about, just like their old home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All better! No real death.  
> If you look at page 285, the harpoon looks like it has blue around it. It's likely supposed to show that it was going fast, but I couldn't help but wonder if it somehow was enchanted to miss Emil. And then this happened. 
> 
> Also some explanation. Basically Lalli experienced what happened when Emil died and cried out for help. Something helped by making him act quicker in the past to make Emil duck. Some of the emotions strong emotions he felt came through as well, though he did not remember what could have happened.


	2. Offshoot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A further imagining of what happened after the death of one. This was inspired by many sad fanfictions as well as one song I heard on the radio. That song was "Hold Back the River" by James Bay. 
> 
> And this chapter was completed thanks to my friend who originally got me into SSSS and threatens to throw me out a window every time I think up a new sad fanfic idea. She proofread it and once I figure out her AO3 name I will put her up here.

CHAPTER 2:  
  
Offshoot…  
  
Nothing happened. His prayer seemed to fall on deaf ears as the blood of his friend dripped down his back. Lalli hugged his friend tightly, but couldn’t feel any warmth at all due to their well-insulated uniforms. The sticky red bled through, though, and left his back feeling wet and a tad warmer.  
  
The weight all too soon became terrible. If he dared push away, he would be forced to look at the head once more. Or half the head. He dared not think of it, for it already brought back the memory of the impact, brutal and disgusting and horrifying.  
  
And with that thought, Lalli was no longer holding his friend in his arms, but a corpse. A heavy corpse whose blood was spilling onto him and his uniform. His breath caught in his throat as he finally registered how terrible the stench of blood was, how awful the weight of this dead person was, and… what he had to do next. Tears that had blurred his vision since the awful event now after a full minute reluctantly fell down his cheeks.  
  
Someone pulled Emil off of him. He closed his eyes quickly, not wanting to see the face. The weight was immediately replaced with more as someone hugged him in all too tight a grip. For a split second he dared hope it was Emil, but the familiar sob told him it was his cousin. Lalli hugged her back, still keeping his crying eyes closed.  
  
…  
  
The boats that had held their cargo made a much easier funeral than having to bury him in the ground. Mikkel made sure the boy was set off surrounded by lit cat candles. He was a cleanser after all. It was only right that fire accompanied him in death.  
  
The crew and newfound stowaway watched Emil’s boat slowly go towards the horizon. The medic and captain were secretly thankful that they didn’t see any whales pop up to eat him. That was typically the case. Also one of the most morbid yet easy ways to lure out whale-beasts.  
  
Each one of the crew held a candle in their hands.  
  
“He had a lot of potential.” Sigrun said, blowing out her candle and throwing it into the sea without much care. The others caught a glimpse of a small tear forming in her eye before she wiped it away and walked back.  
  
“He was too young for this fate.” Mikkel said, holding his candle up like he was toasting the boy. Then he blew it out and left it by the pier, following Sigrun as she dragged their stowaway back to the tank.  
  
That left the two Finns.  
  
“Let him rest peacefully in Tuonela…” Tuuri squeezed her cousin’s hand for comfort. She could feel him pull away the tiniest bit then stop. She turned a small smile to him, despite the fact it wouldn’t be easily visible behind her mask.  
  
Lalli mumbled an agreement, then inhaled deeply. “May he sleep atop your waves, safely, calmly, until he reaches Tuonela, where he may sleep forevermore.”  
  
The two blew out their candles together and headed back to the cat-tank. Lalli still dreaded what was to come.  
  
…  
  
Lalli dreamed that night. A true dream he had no control over. It was a blissful reality where he had acted fast enough to protect Emil. He longed to act on his happiness, but merely watched as a bystander as his other self went on normally. Lalli simply watched the scene unfold in which they found the stowaway, returned to the tank, and listened to lots of angry yelling. It took him a long while to realize this stowaway was the same one he had glimpsed in his dream that one time.  
  
The dream faded as he watched his other self fall asleep.  
  
It left a strange feeling inside of him as he awoke in his safe area. Which was real? Had his… friend actually died? Which was the dream?  
  
There was a simple way to find out. Exiting his safe spot, he raced to find the spirit. It didn’t take much looking, because there was something sparkling in the distance.  
  
Tears filled his eyes. Emil’s hair always had to be perfect, even in death.  
  
“Lalli?” Emil looked to the scout and smiled. Then, upon seeing his tears, he dropped the smile and turned, looking concerned. “What’s wrong.”  
  
“Do you remember?”  
  
“Remember what?” Emil asked, then realized what was different between this and all of their other conversations. That being, that this was an actual conversation and not a one way monologue. “Wait, when did you learn Swedish?”  
  
“What is the last thing you remember?”  
  
“Lalli this is- wait… why can’t I remember… how I got here?” Emil began to panic a bit. He looked over the watery landscape like he was seeing it only now. The whole place was ominous yet calming, as well as entirely foreign. There was nothing around as far as he could see, and he began to feel a strange sort of loneliness.  
  
“You didn’t get here. What do you last remember.”  
  
“ We were… waiting. Waiting for a ship.” Emil closed his eyes to concentrate. Or he believed he did.  
  
Lalli’s heart quivered in his chest as the contemplating ghost faded out of vision. He understood that fading from reality was pretty much the only way a spirit could turn off their sight. If they wanted to close their eyes, cover their ears, or essentially be rid of any one sense, they got rid of all of them by simply fading. The knowledge did not ease him, however. There were many times that spirits would fade and never find the desire to come back. That was what he had to do for Emil. Make him fade away.  
  
Lalli did not want to.  
  
Emil returned, not noticing a thing. “There was a… something coming… and pain and-” Emil touched his face, his eye, making sure it was all there. But his own hand felt… wrong. He could feel his face and hand touching, but he could apply no pressure against his face. It was like his very skin was a smooth glass, immobile. He flexed his hands, amazed how they could still move fine but he could only make a very weak fist.  
  
It wasn’t his skin that was immobile… he was simply unable to touch anything. As a spirit, he was too weak to apply any force at all to anything. Also he was stopping himself from making his hands go through his body. Lalli was pleased with that. He’d seen spirits swat at what they thought was a bug and have their arm pass through their head.  
  
“Lalli! Tell me this is just-” Emil made to run forward and grab Lalli’s shoulders, but only managed to pass through the mage. Both shivered. “I… I can’t… no.”  
  
“I’m sorry Emil.” Lalli said, turning around to look at his friend. His heart ached as he saw his friend cover his head in his arms while lying on the ground.  
  
“I can’t die… I can’t be dead…” A soft sniffle followed his words. “I… I was going to… teach those teachers a lesson! I was going to make big discoveries! I was…” He tried to punch the ground but only managed to swing his arm through the rock. “I… My little cousins… I wanted to see them grow up. I wanted to inspire them…” His voice caught in his throat as he thought of those he loved.  
  
Lalli couldn’t take it. His friend wasn’t just some prideful, messy Swede. There was a caring side to him, one that he had seen when the troll attacked their train, and in their every interaction thereafter. No. There was no caring “side”. Emil was simply a caring person. And the world stole his life. Just like.  
  
No.  
  
Lalli’s heart went cold. This was simply a stupid Swedish boy who didn’t have quick enough instincts to make it in the world. There was no use for him and his ego, and he needed to make him fade away before he became any more of a nuisance.  
  
“Emil. You need to move on.” Lalli said curtly.  
  
“But…” Emil pushed himself up, looking back at Lalli. Through his tears, he could barely make out Lalli’s face let alone the stern glare he was being given.  
  
“Spirits aren’t immune. You can’t stay here.”  
  
“Lalli…”  
  
“Emil. You need to listen to me. If you fade now, you can reach Tuonela. If not, you’ll become a troll very soon.” Lalli explained, his voice harsh.  
  
“Why?” Emil asked meekly.  
  
“It is how it is. My own parents are spirit trolls because they wanted to stay alive after death. Don’t…” Lalli’s voice changed slightly as he choked back a sob, “you will not put me through that.”  
  
“There’s no third option?” Emil asked, standing to face Lalli. Tears still dripped from his chin, but a few blinks finally cleared his vision.  
  
“No.”  
  
Emil lowered his gaze. “How long do I have?”  
  
“An hour… but that’s dangerous even that long.”  
  
“Will you stay with me?” Emil asked after a long pause.  
  
That was the last bit of warmth that thawed out Lalli’s heart. “What do you mean?”  
  
“Will you… hold my hand as I fade? I don’t want to be left alone.”  
  
“Of course.” Lalli smiled, tears starting anew.  
  
….

“...And tell Siv, oh that’s my Aunt, the lady you met at the first train station? Yeah, tell her that I was the one who got Bosse afraid of loud noises, not the kids.”  
  
“I am so glad there’s paper to write all this down on.” Lalli muttered to himself.  
  
“And tell the first person to read over and translate my will that I love them.” Emil said, looking over Lalli’s shoulder at the strange letters he was writing.  
  
“first person to read and translate is loved… got it.” Lalli said, barely registering what the words he was writing down meant anymore.  
  
Emil clapped his hands once, stopping himself from stalling any longer. “I’m ready.”  
  
“Wait… you are?” Lalli asked, looking up from the long dream scroll he’d made.  
  
“Ready as I’ll ever be… Thank you for writing all that up.”  
  
“No problem.” Lalli took Emil’s hand gently, making sure not to pass through him. “All you have to do is let go. Or close your eyes and keep them closed until you fall asleep.”  
  
Emil hesitated when Lalli held his hand, then pushed away his hesitation. Turning to face him, he put his forehead to Lalli’s and looked into his eyes. Those piercing eyes that had first intrigued yet weirded him out. Those piercing eyes that were now frosting over with tears yet again.  
  
He smiled lightly, wiping a tear off of Lalli’s face. “We could have been an amazing team, mage and cleaner… sorry I didn’t believe you at first.”  
  
“Wouldn’t have expected you to, you messy Swede.” Lalli said, but his concerned expression didn’t fit the playful jab.  
  
Emil paused, taking a final look into his friend’s gaze. Something felt like it was crawling inside him, and he knew it was time. “God natt.” Emil closed his eyes, smile still on his face.  
  
“Wait!” Lalli tried to stop him, to hold his hand, but his hand touched nothing but air. The area got slightly colder; a sure sign the warm spirit had moved on. It was then that he realized just how much more he wanted to say.  
  
Lalli slumped back to his safe area, knowing in his heart that it was over, but not wanting to believe it. That’s when he looked at the scroll. It was written in a dreamlike universal language. He’d have to read over it and-  
  
and translate it.

Lalli never thought he could cry himself to sleep in his own dream world, but he could and did. 

~~~~  
  
He saw himself being sprayed with water. It did not look fun. Despite looking from an outside perspective, Lalli could still feel the cold water hitting his face and the rapidly cooling water in the tub he sat in.  
  
His uniform was laid out to dry a little ways from him, and he noticed Mikkel say something in his weird language. On a scale of strange to weird, whatever Mikkel said was definitely weird in his book. He turned to look, then his heart warmed.  
  
He was once again separate from the self that was in the scene. The Lalli he was watching was begrudgingly putting up with the bath Emil was giving him. It was standard procedure, of course, but it was the mundane that broke Lalli’s heart. This would never come to pass.  
  
He watched himself dry off quickly and throw on a sweater, then run away from the Swede. Interestingly, he did not feel forced to follow his other self. Instead, Lalli was able to watch Emil.  
  
~erk~  
  
He awoke with a start, some faint memory about Emil trying to save kittens passing out of his mind too fast to catch it. Yawning, he thought of telling Emil through Tuuri about his dream. Then the realization of what had actually happened last night caught up with him. Caught up with him and hit with the force of the cat tank at maximum speed.  
  
Which broke him out of his thoughts as the floor beneath him shook. They were moving somewhere. They were going somewhere very fast. Lalli barely made it to the window in time for the motion sickness to take over.  
  
That’s when he glimpsed the giant chasing them.  
  
This was a terrible morning.


End file.
